Prosecutors add allegations against poker-playing Supreme Court lawyer Goldstein

By David Thomas

Aug 8 (Reuters) - Tom Goldstein funneled nearly $1 million of his and his wife's money into a trust account controlled by his law firm in order to shield it from the Internal Revenue Service, federal prosecutors alleged in an expanded indictment against the prominent former U.S. Supreme Court lawyer.

The superseding indictment, filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Thursday, also alleged Goldstein in 2020 and 2021 offered cryptocurrency, student loan payments and a $10,000 bonus to a manager at his former firm Goldstein & Russell "in part to dissuade the firm manager from cooperating with the IRS's ongoing criminal investigation."

Goldstein, who argued more than 40 cases at the Supreme Court before retiring in 2023 and who co-founded the SCOTUSblog Supreme Court news website, was first indicted in January on 22 counts of tax evasion and other financial criminal charges allegedly connected to his side career as a high-stakes poker player.

Goldstein has pleaded not guilty. The new indictment brings additional allegations and details to the case but does not include new charges. Goldstein's spokesperson and his defense lawyers at Munger, Tolles & Olson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new allegations.

A spokesperson for the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Federal prosecutors have said Goldstein won and lost millions of dollars in individual poker matches and made improper payments through his law firm to cover debts.

The superseding indictment said Goldstein transferred $960,000 into Goldstein & Russell's IOLTA account, a type of trust account that holds funds for clients, in order to avoid an IRS levy.

He then moved the funds to his firm's business account before using it to buy a new house in Washington, D.C., in March 2021, prosecutors alleged.